Midst the Mist
by Elillierose
Summary: While on a bit of an excursion, Zoro and Sanji run into a bit of a trouble. But, combating that is rather difficult when their enemy isn't a solid form. 2nd place winner for my tumblr giveaway. No romance until the end...kinda


**Beta read by: SinikkavonWolperting and istoleyourcheesecake**

 **This is the second place winner prize (5k fic + sketch) for my 250 follower giveaway on tumblr. Will be doing another one shortly for hitting 300, which I hit, so as soon as these are posted, I'll start that one.**

 **This isn't ZoSan until the end, just threw a little tease in there. lol**

* * *

"Why the hell did I have to get stuck with you," the blond scoffed as he kicked another rock out of the way. "Of all the shitty people…" he griped on, more annoyed than anything by the swordsman's lack of a response. The least the guy could do is give him some entertainment, and it was pissing Sanji off that he wasn't taking the bait. So, all that was left to do was mumble under his breath and pick up his own pace, forcing the other to speed up or risk getting separated and lost in the thickening haze.

And finally, that's what did it. "Hey, what the hell are ya trying to do ya damn idiot!?" he called after him, jogging to catch up. "Don't go running off ahead of me."

"Well, that wouldn't be a problem if you weren't so damn slow," the chef replied, showing no signs of letting up. He did cast a few glances behind himself though. As fun and enjoyable as it was to irritate the man, he didn't wish for them to actually get parted from one another - he wasn't that spiteful. Well, at least not in a place where they could hardly see more than a few feet in any direction. "Damn," he muttered, finally slowing down before he tripped over something, "What's with all this fog. "Is it just me, or is it getting worse?"

Zoro slowed down next to him, his expression changing from frustrated and angry to thoughtful as he, too, took a quick look around. "You know, now that you mention it," he muttered in agreement. Then he glanced in the direction they came from. "If it gets too much worse, I doubt we'll be making it back to the others before night arrives."

"Yeah, and wandering around a place like this with a person like you is never how I imagined spending any night," Sanji sighed longingly, his disappointment not even attempted at being hidden. Still, the other ignored the comment. Under any other circumstances, he would have made a snide remark back, but there was something about this island, he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it bothered him.

"Let's just keep going," he mumbled, walking forward to leave a baffled blond in his wake.

"Hey, you sick or something?" the cook asked, raising his eyebrow. The man was beginning to make him uneasy with his behavior. For the last hour or so, he's been like this: in a rush, brushing off all his insults, and just all around being weird and so unlike himself. "Psh, whatever," he shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets and trailing after the green-haired man.

They didn't know how much longer they had gone on for, but so far, everything looked the same; they could have been running around in circles as far as they knew. But, they carried on regardless. Or they did until Zoro stopped in his tracks, causing the other to nearly bump into him.

"What's the big idea?" Sanji asked, more than a little agitated by the sudden stop and lack of a warning. "Are you trying-"

"Shut up for a second," Zoro demanded. The seriousness of his tone was enough to get the other man to comply. The larger man glanced around, his gaze narrowed in suspicion. "Did you hear that?" he asked, gesturing off somewhere to their right. Sanji followed the other's attention, but there was absolutely nothing to see, and so he simply shook his head. "I heard footsteps," he informed, all sarcasm void from his voice, "I think we're being followed."

The blond rolled his eyes. "So what if we are, we just kick his ass and be done with it if he messes with us." With that, he shoved by the swordsman with the intention of getting this over with so they could hurry up and move on with their lives. He only managed to get a few feet, maybe even a few yards before he was again forced to stop. But, this time it was from the lack of sound. Zoro wasn't moving. "You coming or wha-" he instantly cut himself off as his blue gaze trailed down the length of the others arm and paused on his hand as it gripped the hilt of one of his swords. "What's up with you?" he questioned and took a step closer. Then it hit him...the man was staring directly at him with bloodthirst in his eyes.

"Zoro?" Sanji asked again, now beginning to worry, not just for the other but now for himself. The way he was looking it him, there was a lack of familiarity in his stare. "Cut it out already, this isn't funny," he warned, beginning to get on edge. And, as he took a few more steps back, the man's figure became obscured by the mist and almost clouded his sight of the swordsman altogether. Even so, he could make out his heavy footfalls as they approached close, slowly picking up speed as the distance was shortened.

Swearing under his breath, Sanji did the only thing he could think of in that moment, and that was to run. There was no way he was going to fight the guy when there was clearly something wrong with him. He obvious had no issue beating the shit out of him, but he prefered to do it when he was in his own mind.

"Just snap out of it, you idiot," he ground out between clenched teeth as he ran. But, no matter how fast he went, or how much ground he covered, he could still hear the other as if he were right behind him. At this rate, it was only a matter of tim- "Shit," he blurted, diving to the side just in time to avoid the bite of one of the man's blades. Instead it struck the ground where he was standing just a moment before, the threatening 'cling' rang strong in his ears, like a death toll. 'He's really trying to kill me,' he thought to himself, his heart beating a mile a minute against his ribs.

There was something about the way he moved though...it was so natural. He assumed him to be controlled by something, but the way his movements flowed, he was starting to doubt that original theory. If it wasn't that, then he had no idea what it was, unless he finally was getting sick of all the snarky remarks and all that pent up frustration and anger was finally being released in the form of aggression. Whatever it was, though, he wasn't a fan. "Come on already," he growled to himself when the larger figure started to come at him once more. Again, all he could do was dodge out of the way.

This happened a few more times, each 'swish' of the blade closer than the last, and he wasn't sure how long he could play this little game of cat and mouse.

"Stay the hell still!" Zoro yelled out, speaking for the first time since all this happened. And, yeah, it was definitely him; however, the sound of his voice, it caught him off-guard and Sanji stumbled as his eyes widened in surprise. "Now I've got you, I'm sick of you following us," he muttered, hatred filling his eyes. The blond saw it before he felt it, the crimson that arced from one of the man's katanas as a sharp hiss was pulled from his throat.

Gritting his teeth, the blond leapt back, his right hand instantly flew to his left side and a warm and thick liquid quickly started to flow through his fingers. "Sonuva…" he whispered, risking no more than a quick glance down. Zoro never gave him a second to catch his breath; he was already coming at him again. The wound wasn't severe, but it was bleeding a lot. He hated to admit it, but it appeared as though he wouldn't have much choice but to fight back. He either had to do that or let himself be cut to pieces, and he wasn't quite ready for that.

As he watched the other, observed every twitch, he blinked a couple of times, and as he opened his eyes back up, he could have sworn the fog was thicker, warping even more of his view. That wasn't all though, gradually, it started off as just an annoyance, but there was a light throb in the back of his head that was progressively getting worse. He glanced around, his own breath grew louder, and he was sure now that there was someone else with them. Zoro must have been right about something for once...maybe they weren't alone. But, there was no time to think, the man himself was coming his way again.

He had to get out of here; however, running was proving to be more difficult when his side was currently on fire and sapping the life out of him. He had to get some distance between the two of them, but at the same time, he couldn't do that. If he left the swordsman behind, none of them would probably see him again. Though, the thought of that did bring a ghost of an amused grin to his face.

Still, he didn't stop, didn't so much as slow down until he had no other choice when the blood loss was finally catching up to him. Eventually, his pace died down and he paused in order to lean over and catch his breath. Already, and he didn't know if it was from the wound or his surroundings, maybe even a combination of the two, his vision began to blur. "Shit," he muttered, swiping his other hand down his face, and he internally cringed at the slight slickness of it. Taking a deep breath, he stumbled on, forcing himself to walk straight and to keep going, but the man behind him, he was so close now...he could practically hear his breaths.

If Zoro could give him just five seconds, that would have been really nice. He's seen this man fight before, the way he fights, he never allows his opponent a single moment to gather themselves. He never thought he'd be on this side of the man's sword, not with the intent to kill, anyway.

"Zoro, come on already," he panted, straightening back up when he caught his silhouette. "I know you hate my guts and all...but this is getting ridiculous," he half joked, receiving no sort of humor in return.

The other just shifted the hilt in his hand, getting ready for another attack. The blond simply took a deep breath; he was so tired of running, not to mention it was taking a colossal blow to his pride, and he just imagined the field day the idiot would have with that, knowing that he'd rather run than fight. 'Alright, if this is what you want,' he thought as he stretched one of his legs out, and then the other. "Come on, I'm sick of playing around, now hurry the hell up if we're doing this," he said, standing there in anticipation as he waited.

And there it was, not a moment later, he was charging at the blond again, both swords in hands aimed at their target. Sanji took a deep breath and prepared himself for the impact. There was still something in him that was causing him hesitation, and for some reason, some stupid and nagging reason, he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to fight back. Even if the blockhead was out to hurt or kill him, this wasn't him. It was him, but he didn't seem to be in his right mind right now.

He was only a couple feet away now, and whatever thoughts he had of resisting were out the window, stolen away as the space between them was covered and the glint of the blades snatched all of the cook's attention. By the time he had his wits about him again, it was too late, there was another pain radiating from his right shoulder, and a less intense one across his chest. His breath caught in his throat, but he was now staring right into those heavy and murderous eyes. Through the haze of his own vision, he wasn't sure if he really saw it or not, though he was fairly certain there was a flash of recognition before black could tease the edges of his conscious.

Zoro stood there, both sharpened edges still pressed into his prey, and a satisfied chuckle rolled out of him as his opponent slowly started to lean more heavily against him. "Finally gotcha," he breathed out, closing his eyes for a moment as the incessant throbs in the back of his head finally started to ebb away. He took a deep breath, but the air got stuck in his chest, burned as a soft voice reached his ears...it was his own name.

Carefully, the green-haired man pried his gaze back open and his focus drifted down to look again at the enemy, and it widened at the man now sagging against him. "S-Sanji?" he muttered, confused as he took in the blood staining the blond. The same shade flowed down the lengths of his swords and soaked into his clothing.

"H-Hey," he called out, slowly working the both of them to sit on the ground as he gently laid the other on his back. He was extra cautious as he slowly removed his weapons, cringing when more blood gushed out. "Shit...shit, shit, shit," he repeated over and over, his hands hovering, trembling over the shaking body of the smaller man. What was he supposed to do, and where the hell was Chopper when you needed him?

The cook let out a couple of pained and gasped whimpers, but other than those, he showed no signs of being conscious. And, this just deepened the other man's panic. He had to get the both of them back to the others, but with a quick glance around, he didn't even know which way was which anymore. Still, first thing was first...he had to stop the bleeding before he could die of blood loss. Chewing on his lip, he quickly used his only clean sword left to slice through the chef's shirt, needing to get a better look at things. Once it was all revealed, his stomach churned as he assessed the damage. The lacerations weren't too life-threatening, but they were pretty deep, and the knowledge that he was the one to cause all this didn't help matters any.

Zoro shook his head and ripped his bandana off before looking over once more to decide which of the wounds was the worst. After some consideration, he pressed the material over the chest wound. It wasn't the deepest, but it was the longest and the others were still being partially covered by the man's own clothing.

"Everything's gonna be alright, we're gonna get out of this, you'll be fine," he muttered, rambling to himself as he worked. He was barely aware of just how fast he was breathing, or of the rate of his own heart. Once he had that on as securely as he could, he was only able to stare down at the shivering man, his skin a pale shade of its normal color.

Now, he had to get him out of here, sitting in the middle of nowhere like this, it was too exposing for his comfort. Inhaling deeply, he put his swords away, trying his best to ignore the blood that still painted them and muttered a soft apology under his breath. "This is probably going to hurt," he warned the still figure before crouching down and carefully scooped up the blond. Zoro then pulled him in close, doing what he could to avoid causing further pain before he finally took that first step. With every footfall after that, the breathing of Sanji became slightly more ragged and more labored. Even a thin sheen of sweat was developing on his features.

The swordsman chewed on the inside of his cheek as he walked, and he was very aware of the fact that he was starting to walk faster and faster, desperate to get the two of them somewhere safe. "It won't be too much longer," he promised, more to himself than anyone. Even with the thick mist surrounding them, he could tell it was getting late. What little visibility they had was quickly dissipating and he prayed he'd just find something already.

As he went on, his frustration and impatience was growing, he kept glancing down, expecting to see Sanji awake, but every time he was faced with the same drawn expression of discomfort. Just as he was starting to lose hope, about ready to give up and choose a different direction, he spotted something up ahead, the mist seemed to clear just a few yards away. Holding his breath, trying not to let this inkling of promise cloud his judgement, he stalked on until at last, he broke through the curtain of gray. And, just like that, he was through, not so much as a whisp around him. Bewildered, Zoro looked behind him, and his brows lowered at the wall of fog. It was like it was being contained behind glass.

He was right though, bringing his focus upward, the night sky was already draped over them. Shaking his head, he continued on, his pulse slowed down as he started to calm down a bit and allowed himself to relax at last. He only walked for a few more minutes and came to another stop as he cut his eyes over...a cave. Zoro was skeptical, but they were in desperate need of shelter, and there was no way he could keep walking like this. He was fine, but Sanji...he was sure all this moving and jostling around was taking a toll on him, something that he couldn't afford right now.

"Don't worry, just a few more minutes and you'll be able to take it easy," he assured, now walking with more ease towards the entrance of the cave. He remained quiet and made sure his steps were light as he stepped inside. He wasn't willing to take any chances with this; there was no telling what could be lurking inside; this was unknown territory and all.

Zoro slowly lowered the other to the ground just inside, leaving him there for just a few minutes while he scouted out the main part of the cave. So far, it seemed to be pretty empty aside from a spider here and a bat there. Only other sounds was the steady drip of water from the ceiling. But, he deemed it safe enough, and besides, it was better than out there and exposed to the elements. "Home sweet home, I guess," he muttered as he returned by the blond's side.

He worked their way a little bit deeper into the cave and for a bit debated making a fire. It wasn't exactly chilly or anything, but by the way the smaller man was shivering… But, at the same time, if there were creatures or others nearby, he wasn't sure lighting a beacon to their location was the best idea. So, against what he wished, he willed himself to resist the urge to build one and instead scooted closer to the blond. The lighting was pretty low, but he could still make out enough thanks to the moonlight. Enough to still see the blood anyway. His bandana was even specked with a little bit. Thankfully it wasn't much, so at least the bleeding was slowing down.

The swordsman slipped a single hand around the other's neck, his face scrunching at the slight iciness to it, but he was mainly trying to focus on the pulse. It was still there, fast, but it was still strong enough to put him more at ease. He was alive, and as far as he could tell, he wasn't dying anytime soon.

He let out a relieved breath before he carefully peeled the material away to take another look at the chest wound. So far so good, it hardly even bled anymore, and he felt safe enough to remove it and use it to staunt one of the other wounds. It wasn't the most sanitary or the most practical though. And, already hating that he had to do this, he dropped it to the side and swiftly removed his own shirt.

With this, he dabbed at the shoulder wound, seeing as it was the deepest of the three and the only one that was still releasing a steady stream of red. Again, once that was securely in place, he pulled his hand away and sat back a little bit, but his gaze never strayed from the cook. "How long do you plan on staying out for?" he asked, starting to grow impatient. It had probably been an hour at least, and he was still out.

Just as he lowered his head in defeat, he jerked it back up when the unrhythmic breaths hitched and was followed by a slightly choked cough. "Hey, you with me?" he asked, sliding one hand under Sanji's head as he lifted it just enough to get the blond to face him. "Sanji, can you hear me?" he asked, using his other to pat his cheek lightly. Weakly, the cook waved one of his own hands clumsily to try and swat the touch away.

"S-top," he muttered, or more or less croaked as he squeezed his eyes shut in pain. "Son of a…" he whispered, his hand now trying to clutch the wound on his shoulder, but Zoro was quick to grab a hold of his wrist.

"Hey, don't touch that," he ordered, accidently snapping at the smaller man. "Sanji, do you...do you remember what happened?" Zoro asked, praying to whatever was listening that he didn't. He wanted anything other than for Sanji to remember him attacking him like that. But...he was sure, no, he knew, that he was attacking someone else. He wasn't attacking Sanji, he wouldn't do that.

The other seemed to think about it for a moment, but there was a shadow of confusion that underlined his agonized expression and he groaned to himself as his hand now raised to cover his face. "K-Kinda…" he mumbled, his mind hazy, most likely from the blood loss. But there was something that bothered him. Slowly, a few images popped into his mind, and one thing stuck out to him. Zoro was there, with his swords pointed straight at him, and all of them were stained with blood...his blood.

Startled as it all came rushing back, the cook jerked away, but didn't make it far before the stings and burns caught him and pulled him back down. That and Zoro also didn't allow him to sit up more than a foot before yanking him back down. He pulled the blond in close, both arms wrapped securely around him. "Wh-what the 'ell are you doin'?" Sanji asked, voice slurred and alarmed.

"Dammit, calm down will ya?" Zoro demanded, trying to hold the other still without causing even more harm to him, but that was proving to be difficult with the way he was fighting back. "It's fine...I'm not...it's fine," he promised, holding on tightly until Sanji eventually settled down, his breaths continued to come out in heated pants. But, soon enough, and with a few more words of calm encouragement, he relaxed against the other. Either he listened to what he was saying or he was wearing himself out. Whatever it was, he was thankful the struggles were dying down.

The cook took a few more deep breaths, but he tried to settle his heart down; if he kept this out, he knew he was just going to pass out again. "The hell are we?" he asked after a few more moments as he scanned around through the haze.

"In a cave," Zoro replied, matter-of-factly. "We needed somewhere to rest, and this was the best option," he explained, his hold on the other finally loosening when he was sure he wouldn't make a run for it. "How are you feeling?" he asked after a couple of seconds. He was sure that was a stupid question because of course he was in pain, probably not feeling well in the slightest. But, he wanted to keep him talking, he needed to hear his voice a bit more. Although, at the same time, he knew he needed rest more than anything, and it was such a dilemma.

"Like shit," Sanji replied honestly, and Zoro hated the exhaustion in his voice. It was drawn, pained, and it was all his fault. Maybe not directly, but still, he was the cause of the man's suffering and his chest clenched at that thought. "And tired," he added, shifting subtly in an attempt to make himself more comfortable.

The larger man simply nodded along as he listened. "I bet," he responded, his tone weighed down with guilt. "Why don't you go ahead and try to get some sleep. I'll be right here and I'll wake you when it's morning. Alright?" he offered, and he didn't know if he should have been concerned or thankful when the blond instantly compiled without a single complaint or objection. In the span of just a few seconds or so, the chef's breaths evened out and his form again was drained of tension as he went limp against him. Fortunately, this time, his rest was peaceful and his features appeared to be more relaxed.

This was going to be a long night, he already knew it. But, as he gazed down upon the other, he was alright with that. He closed his eyes as he released a long and sorrowful breath. "I really fucked up this time," he muttered to himself, raising one of his hands to press it against his forehead. Why was he so stupid sometimes, why could he never think before acting? And now look where that's gotten him, he attacked someone he actually cared for, he could have killed him. And, now that he thought about it, why didn't Sanji even defend himself? He just stood there and took it.

All these thoughts ran through his head as he waited out the night. The self-blame did nothing but build up and thicken in his head. He had no idea how long he was sitting there, how long the blond was sleeping for, but before he knew it, light was beginning to filter in. As the rays struck his face and jolted him from his wandering imagination, he looked back to the cook, who at this point was lying comfortably against his own chest, sleeping completely at ease. It was almost a shame to wake him, but they really had to get going and get back to the others. They weren't even supposed to be gone this long, a couple hours at the most. They were probably even looking for the two of them by now.

"Sanji," he whispered, giving the lithe man a gentle shake, and he repeated the process until slowly a couple of annoyed and pained grunts and whimpers filtered from the man's mouth. "Come on, it's morning. Sorry, but we gotta get going. Think you can walk?" he asked, brows furrowed in worry.

The blond groaned once more in discomfort, but he slowly nodded his head. "My legs work fine," he replied stubbornly, already attempting to get to his feet. The moment he was on his feet, however, he was wavering on the spot and Zoro had no choice but to step in before he could topple over.

"Easy," he warned, immediately draping one of the lithe man's arms over his shoulders. Clearly he wasn't well enough to be walking on his own, but there was also no way he was going to be alright with being carried, not while he was awake anyway. But, if he'd at least let him give what assistance he could, then that would be alright too. "I got you," he promised, glad that Sanji at least wasn't trying to pull away from once. He must have really been struggling to allow him to lend a hand like this.

They had to take this one step at a time, and he was willing to take this as slowly as possible, whatever it took to make sure the smaller man was comfortable. As they stepped out, Zoro's eyes widened...it was completely clear outside. Maybe it was a rolling fog and had already passed over. That or it was just something that appeared at night. Whatever it was, he wasn't complaining, the fact that it was gone was nothing short of a blessing.

Only thing he was worried about was the fact that they had covered quite a bit of ground, so getting back was going to take some time. He was more concerned about Sanji being able to make it. They hadn't even been walking for a minute and he was wavering and leaning more heavily against him. To be honest, he'd be surprised if he managed to make it halfway there before fainting on him. "You're doing good," he muttered, more so to keep the other alert than anything.

"Really?" Sanji scoffed, "is that all you have to say?" his breaths were coming out quickly and tight, but he refused to show his suffering in front of the swordsman. It was bad enough he had to carry him all the way out here, the least he could do was this on his own. And here Zoro was telling him he was doing 'good'? What was he, a child? He was just walking, it was like he was being treated like something fragile. "I know I'm doing fine," he added, straightening up the most he could.

The larger man just smiled as they hobbled along. There it was, that fight he wanted to see in the chef. Hearing that, he no longer had any doubts that he really would be fine. Perhaps a little rough around the edges by the time they got back, but fine nonetheless. All he had to do was keep that riled fire up, he just had to keep that stubborn attitude of the blond fueling him and moving him forward. All that took was the occasional snide and condescending remark. Honestly, sometimes the cook was too predictable and far too easy to manipulate. But, as long as it was working, there was zero regret. And, as he kept this up, within an hour or more, they could see the familiar sight of the Sunny in the distance.

"I'll be damned," Zoro chuckled to himself. "I can't believe it, but you actually made it he-" he went to say, ceasing when the weight against him suddenly tugged downward on his shoulder. "Hey, you idiot, you couldn't even wait until you were on the ship," he muttered, his voice contrasting with the words spoken as they were soft and not at all upset. He let out a sigh and leaned over to scoop the other up once again and carried him the rest of the way.

As soon as he was even close to the ship, and he shouldn't have been surprised, but the others were quick to notice him, and a few of them were even quicker to jump down to greet the two of them as he was flooded with questions of concern and worry. "Where's Chopper?" Zoro asked, ignoring all the others, and really not in the mood to answer a hungered inquiries a minute.

As if on cue, the small doctor pushed his way through the others. "Sanji!" he exclaimed, his hands waving frantically as he took in the cook's appearance. "Zoro, get him in the infirmary," he instructed as he was quick to do what he could to push the others out of the way, though Luffy was proving to be ninety-nine percent of the obstacles.

"What happened?" Nami asked, the deep worry in her tone cutting through the rest and beckoning the swordsman to glance over his shoulder.

He wasn't sure what came over him, but he couldn't bring himself to lie or to leave her without an answer. "I...I did this," he replied, the three words instantly silenced everyone and he felt all their eyes upon him. Dipping his head, he slowly trailed after the reindeer to his office and gently placed the blond on the bed before stepping back.

Chopper was already getting to work, and fortunately the small medic didn't appear to be too concerned once he got a good look at everything. That was reassuring, at the very least. "You know, he'll be fine, right?" Chopper asked, glancing in the larger man's direction. He found it weird that he was just sitting there, watching. Since when was Zoro interested in his work?

"I know," the swordsman replied, still not moving from the spot. And, he never did, he sat right there as still as he could until everything was stitched up and bandaged. Once the doctor was completely done, he glanced and narrowed his eyes at the way the swordsman never averted his attention from the blond. Letting out a small sigh of his own, he pushed his way out, deciding it may have been best to allow the man some time alone in there; there was clearly something bugging him, and it wasn't exactly his business to pry.

The green-haired man let out a heavy breath of his own and slowly made his way closer to the blond as he lied there, completely still, and he stood next to the bed. He didn't even get the chance to utter a single syllable before a soft groan slipped from the cook's mouth and he shifted slightly.

"Zoro?" he questioned, obviously groggy and slightly taken aback to see the man leaning over him in such a way with that expression on his face.

"Yeah...it's me," he breathed out, feeling put on the spot all of a sudden. He wasn't expecting Sanji to be awake so soon though. Well, it was better to go ahead and get this over with. "Look, about what happened out there...I don't know what happened, I didn't know what I was do-"

"Just shut up already," the blond cut off. "I already know. Why do you think I didn't fight back? Kicking your ass would have been boring if you weren't aware of what was happening," he explained, but he offered the other a soft and forced smile.

Zoro returned the gesture and laughed lightly to himself at that response. "Yeah, for some reason I doubt I'd be the one getting my ass handed to me," he joked before sitting himself on the edge of the bed. "Seriously though, glad you're alright," he muttered, something in his tone striking the blond as odd. But, before he had the chance to question it, one of the man's hands was stroking through his hair and he leaned down and pressed his lips against his own, effectively cutting off anything he had on his mind.

Shocked, Sanji said nothing as the other finally pulled away, his cheeks were a few shade brighter and he cleared his throat nervously. "Just...not a word to anyone, got it?" the swordsman asked, jumping back to his feet and he walked back towards the door. "And don't you dare do this again. I don't care what's happening, don't you dare stand there and not fight back, I don't give a damn who it is," he said, slamming the door shut behind him the next instant.

Still at a loss, the cook just relaxed back against the bed, his fingers reached up to trace over his lips. "What 'he hell?" he muttered to himself, genuinely wondering if this was a dream...it had to be. He merely shook his head and turned to his side, facing away from the door. What had gotten into that man?


End file.
